Oregon leaders have launched what is believed to be the first community-led LGBTQ+ statewide survey, per The Bay Area Reporter. The Queer Data Project received $1.25 million in state funding this year, allowing for development of the questions that will be included in the survey of Oregon’s LGBTQ+ residents. Project leaders are working to finalize the forms by early 2025 and plan to begin collecting the data next spring, when Pride events start taking place in various cities around the state.
The Supreme Court of Texas recently sided with Dianne Hensley, a justice of the peace in Waco who had been reprimanded for not performing same-sex weddings, The Christian Post noted. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct had previously issued a public warning for her refusal to officiate same-sex weddings, citing a violation of judicial impartiality based on sexual orientation—but the higher court reinstated her lawsuit against the state body. Hensley—represented by attorneys from Mitchell Law LLP and the First Liberty Institute—is contending that her refusal to officiate same-sex weddings is protected under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and is an exercise of her religious beliefs.
Also, the Texas Supreme Court issued another anti-LGBTQ+ ruling, upholding the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youths, the AP noted. The eight-to-one ruling from the all-Republican court leaves in place a law that has been in effect since Sept. 1, 2023. The Texas law prevents transgender people under 18 from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries; children who had already started the medications had to phase out their use. Texas is the largest of the more than two dozen states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
On June 29 in Florida, Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library hosted the first-ever reenactment of the Stonewall Uprising, in the model of reenactments like the Civil and Revolutionary wars, per a press release. At the end of the reenactment, a large rainbow flag was unfurled and carried out by South Florida police officers in attendance to symbolize the progress made over the last 55 years between law enforcement and the LGBTQIA+ community. Peabody and GLAAD Award winner Kristen Lovell flew in to play trans icon Marsha P. Johnson, and others in attendance included Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and Fort Lauderdale Police Chief William Schultz.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a legislative package to support LGBTQ+ residents and people living with HIV/AIDS, per a press release. The five new laws will rename the “Christopher Street-Sheridan Square” subway stop to “Christopher Street-Stonewall National Monument Station”; improve HIV-related testing requirements and timely diagnosis of HIV; ban discrimination against individuals prescribed PrEP for HIV prevention; prohibit insurers from restricting or delaying prescription drugs to a person for HIV or AIDS; and clarify that insurers cannot impose copayments for PrEP or PEP to prevent HIV infection. Hochul said, “As elected officials in other states are using their powers to take those rights away, I am proud to sign legislation to uplift LGBTQ+ history and address inequities experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS, further ensuring our State is a safe and affirming place for everyone.”
Heritage of Pride’s (HOP) NYC Pride March—which had a theme of “Reflect. Empower. Unite”—was even more eventful than usual, per Gay City News. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (who mentioned that his daughter Alison Schumer and her wife, Elizabeth Weiland, had a son) and Councilmember Erik Bottcher were among those who marched in the parade. There were more than a dozen grand marshals this year, including Baddie Brooks, DaShawn Usher, Eshe Ukwell, Michelle Visage, Miss Major, Robin Drake and Raquel Willis, among others. In addition, several activists protesting the war in Gaza sat down in front of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) float, blocking its path; NYC police—including at least one adorned with rainbow NYPD Community patches—arrested and zip-tied the protestors.
The Colorado Republican who sent out a campaign email calling LGBTQ+ people “godless” lost his primary race, per The Advocate. Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams lost his primary election for the state’s 5th Congressional District to conservative commentator Jeff Crank, who will face Democrat River Gassen in the November general election. Williams’ fellow Republicans called on him to resign following an email he sent to voters in which he called queer people “barbaric,” “creeps,” “degenerates,” “godless,” “groomers,” “predators” and other names—with the Jefferson County GOP saying in a statement that “as County Republican Party leaders, the time has come for us to say we have had enough.”
An NBC News tally found that Pride flags, rainbow crosswalks and other LGBTQ+ symbols were stolen or vandalized in at least 40 cities across more than 20 states during June. Even liberal cities like New York City were victimized. At the Stonewall National Monument—the site of the 1969 uprising considered to be the turning point of the modern LGBTQ+-rights movement—Pride flags were ripped up and thrown to the ground twice in June, and for the second year in a row.
On June 28, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) commemorated Pride Month. The department “reaffirms our commitment to using every available resource to protect and uphold the safety, dignity, and well-being of the LGBTQI2S+ community. Our dedication extends beyond June, ensuring support throughout the entire year. At OVW, we are committed to preventing and addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We stand as a strong ally to advocates who have worked tirelessly to make it safer for LGBTQI2S+ survivors. We support their courageous leadership to advance our nation’s commitment to equality, justice, and safety.”
A new study centers its research on LGBTQ+ Latinx youth and their positive relationship with grandparents, according to a release from the University of California-Riverside. The study, “Latinx LGBTQ+ Youth and Grandparents: Intergenerational Solidarity, Precarious Familismo, and Cisnormativity,” shines light on the crucial intergenerational support Latinx grandparents offer their LGBTQ+ grandchildren. Brandon Andrew Robinson (they/them)—associate professor and chair of the University of California, Riverside’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Department—co-authored the study. “Family research, especially research on LGBTQ+ youth, often focuses on the parent-child tie. But families are so much more complicated, expansive, and multifaceted than just the relationship between parents and their children,” they said of the study published in the Journal of Family and Marriage.
For the first time, Oakland, California had an LGBTQ Cultural District for Pride Month, per CBS News. Last November, City Council passed a resolution to make the Lakeshore area a safe haven for those in the queer community. People such as LGBTQ Community Center Chief Operations Officer Dawn Edwards and Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District Committee Chair Jeffrey Myers believe that making this area more welcoming for people in the queer community could have a life-saving impact. Myers—originally from Charleston, South Carolina, where he said he didn’t feel accepted—said, “I was in the military, so I wasn’t out until I really started to believe in myself and feel like I could authentically be myself. But it took years to get where I’m at today.”
Also in Oakland, about two dozen East Bay LGBTQ and allied officials received a tour of the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport during a Pride Month event, The Bay Area Reporter noted. Queer Port of Oakland Commissioner Jahmese Myres (she/they)—who was appointed to the commission by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, whose property was the subject of a recent FBI raid—told the Bay Area Reporter that her tenure so far has been good. (Myres declined to comment on the raid.) In May, the Port Commission voted to change the name of the now-former Oakland International Airport to include the geographic reference to San Francisco Bay.
The the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans found unconstitutional a key component of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka “Obamacare”) that grants a health task force the effective authority to require that insurers both cover an array of preventive health interventions and screenings as well as refrain from imposing out-of-pocket costs for them, NBC News reported. The lawsuit centered on the objections of a coalition of small Texas businesses that it’s required to cover a drug for HIV prevention, known as PrEP, in employee health plans. However, the appeals court did not overturn the related ACA pillar; the practical, immediate impacts of its ruling apply narrowly to the plaintiffs in this case, Braidwood v. Becerra.
In Illinois, the first-ever Pride Richland County was held in Olney, per The Illinois Eagle. The first Pride in the mostly conservative area drew an estimated 1,000 people. Pride Richland County Director Ashlie Zwilling said, “100% success! It was probably five times more people than I thought were going to be there originally.” The event was such a success that Zwilling is already coordinating with the city of Olney to find a date for 2025.
D.C.’s Glorious Health Club—which bills itself as a spa, art gallery and community center catering to gay men—had to close recently after one or more unidentified suspects started a fire inside the club that D.C. fire department officials have called an act of arson, The Washington Blade reported. According to club owner Robert Siegel, arson investigators believe a flammable liquid was used to start the fire in the kitchen and in two other locations within the building, located at 2120 West Virginia Ave., N.E. It could not immediately be determined if fire was started at the Glorious Health Club because it’s a gay community establishment.
The Fabulosa bookstore, in San Francisco’s Castro district, is sending queer books to states where those books have been targeted, per NBC Bay Area. Store employees at Fabulosa said they are upset to see the many books getting pulled from school and library shelves around the country. So far, Fabulosa has sent 35 boxes—each with at least 20 books each inside—to organizations in states such as Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. The American Library Association says the number of books challenged in U.S. libraries spiked 65% in 2023 compared to 2022—the highest level ever documented by the organization.
Outgoing U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Minnesota) posted outside his office in the Longworth building on Capitol Hill—and four of them detailed his opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF), per LGBTQ Nation. “IVF destroys more lives than Planned Parenthood,” read one poster. Interestingly, many of his Republican colleagues have rushed to safeguard IVF, which helps thousands of LGBTQ+ people and others start a family when they have no alternatives although the Alabama Supreme Court, earlier this year, outlawed the procedure in the state by granting personhood to embryos and making doctors complicit in murder if they employed it.
In Missouri, the Gay Business Network at the Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center held its first networking event, KPAX noted. Josh Stokoe—who owns a carpentry business in Missoula and has worked in the field for more than two decades—said that networking opportunities like this are a great way to get businesses off the ground.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred for his part in Donald Trump’s election interference efforts in 2020, according to CNN. The New York Supreme Court announced the decision, which became effective immediately. “The seriousness of (Giuliani’s) misconduct cannot be overstated,” the court wrote. “(Giuliani) flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign, through which (he) repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public, the (Attorney Grievance Committee), and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”
One Institute announced “Los Angeles and the Rise & Fall of Gay Republicans”—a conversation and book-signing for the newly published Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right that will take place Aug. 22 at West Hollywood’s One Gallery, per a press release. “Gay Republicans and conservatives have always been a part of the LGBTQ+ community, much to the befuddlement of many liberal queers,” said Executive Director Tony Valenzuela. “This conversation aims to shed light on the identity of gay conservatives and explore their contributions to our history.”
Tractor Supply issued a press release declaring that the company is abandoning any DEI initiatives and that it will no longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign. Among other things, Tractor Supply plans to “eliminate DEI roles and retire our current DEI goals while still ensuring a respectful environment” as well as “withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts.” In part, the company stated, “We work hard to live up to our Mission and Values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”
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